HELP, HELP I SCREWED UP.. he's still alive

[Lacrystol]

And today is day 28 right? Hang tight. You'll surely see a pip soon. I have 2 here hatching right now that internally pipped 2 days ago and just this morning managed to make an external pip.

Slow little buggers.

NO OMG, DID I SCREW UP AGAIN, I read that it only takes 26 days for call ducks. OMG, I guess this would explan all the stickiness. OMG. Dang it.. They went into lock down sunday. OMG PLEASE TELL ME I DIDN'T MESS UP AGAIN. I was even told 25 days for call ducks but I stuck with 26 days. OMG.. They aren't going to hatch are they. SHOOOOOOOTsssss..

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Peeping is only heard once they have internally pipped.

To pip is to break through the membrane into the air cell. They won't always make a ton of noise.

Externally pipping (not peeping) is when they create a raised dimple (pushing outward) in the shell. There may or may not be a visible hole at this point.

Once they turn to start zipping you will see visible holes and flakes of she'll start to be pushed away and off.

These are stages of hatching, they do not happen quickly. They will rest for prolonged periods of time and look like nothing is going on. Resist the urge to "help" or open the bator. Allow them the time to absorb the yolks and hatch on their own.

"helping" too early often leads to dead hatchlings. Most do not realize the long timeline it takes for waterfowl to hatch. They panic, open an egg thinking they are "helping" only to cause more damage and end up with dead babies. "helping" never involves removing the shell from the entire top (fat/air cell end) of the egg. Doing so can lead to the inner membrain shrinking down trapping the hatchling. It can also result in severe blood loss, dooming the hatchling.

Never, ever think that because the Calendar says its hatch day that the said hatchlings got the memo and will be on time or a text book perfect hatch. Hatchling lengths are a guide to what the average length of time from setting of eggs to babies hatching normally is for what ever said breed you are incubating. They can come sooner and they very well can go longer than the "today is hatch day date".


Call ducks are notoriously hard to hatch because of the very desirable tiny bills they have. Add to that if you bought eggs and they were shipped then there are other factors that can result in a bad hatch. Choosing to incubate call duck eggs means you have accepted the normal risk of having a poor to bad hatch associated with the breed. If you had them shipped, then you need to be aware of the chances none will hatch, or maybe 1 will hatch.

Just because 1 egg is sticky doesn't mean they all will be, you won't know until more actively start working at hatching. If this is the first time incubating anything then you haven't tested your bator and environment to know how they effect your hatch rates. The more hatching you do, the more you will become aware of how your incubator in your home with your climate work together. This SHOULD lead to better hatches over time. If you ignore any issues or troubled hatches though you could be doomed to bad hatch after bad hatch. Learn from hatching mistakes, or troubled hatches to help yourself improve the next and the next.

We are human, using machines, trying to imitate nature. No one is perfect and has constant perfect hatches with zero losses. If they say they do, they are lying and just don't want to admit to anything but a 100% hatch. It's ok to have losses, we may not like them, but they should be used as learning experiences.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

What she said. lol. Calm down. It will be fine. Give us updates every couple hours or so.

 

[Lacrystol]

Thank you that was very informative. I have used this incubator before with chickens, I just hatched out 10 Phoenix's last Sunday and 10 Paints Saturday. Now it's the Ducks turn, but if the due date is suppose to be 28 days, then I can claim this to be a great loss.. I was told from several that for call ducks its 26 days. No these were NOT shipped eggs, I went to the lady's house and pick them up. She was having a hard time hatching the call ducks yourself so I thought humm, I would like to give it a try. This is the First time, I have ever hatched out ducks starting with day one. My batch from last year, I had a 3 week head start... So I guess I can just give up my hope now and not exspect them to come out since, I was informed wrong information on the day. My guess is they were locked down to early causing them to get all sticky.. All though I did see a couple of them last night wiggling, this morning there was nothing. MAN OH MAN.. This really stinks....

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Leave them be, they won't move all the time as I said they like to rest. Waterfowl are just like that.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

They generally take 26-27 days. This is in contrast to the larger ducks which take 28-29. 

 

[ruralmom]

I started out with several call duck eggs from my own girls and I have about three staggered hatches going on. The first of which is today and I have one internally pipped. Day26. I am going to set back and watch the show. My problem is keeping the humidity up. In Colorado with the humidity in the single digits I use misting, sponges and paper towels just to get to 70% in one small bator. My second hatch is for this weekend and then again in two weeks. I have hatched shipped eggs and out of the 8 I got this year only one has made it to term. I lost a fully developed one two days ago and it was a beautiful snowy. You are right about taking on the expectation of a poor hatch. I am going to try a broody hen next year. Good luck and just remember it takes a long time for them to hatch out of the shell.

 

[Neecolaah]

Luckee (the duckling) and I are pulling for your little ones!!!

 

[Lacrystol]

I was misting them through out the incubating period, should they still be misted???? HERE'S THE UPDATE, we have LOTS OF MOVEMENT TONIGHT. LOTS, OMG PERHAPS THERE'S STILL A CHANCE.....

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

NO, once in lockdown you don't turn or mist. Enjoy bator Tv, hands off.